Another Miner Dies At Gold Fields Mine

Johannesburg-listed gold miner, Gold Fields, on Tuesday said another worker had died at its South Deep project in South Africa following an “industrial-type” mishap, raising the number of deaths at the project to two in the past 10 days.

Gold Fields said the incident occurred in an underground satellite workspace at the mine on Tuesday morning and authorities had been alerted and work had been put off pending authorities’ check.

Nick Holland, the CEO of Gold Fields, said the firm will do everything in its power to be a pillar of support to the affected families.

“We are deeply shocked by these tragic incidents as they follow a period of more than three years in which the mine had reported only one fatality, which occurred over a year ago,” Holland said.

The preceding accident, in which one worker died, was also an “industrial-type” accident, and happened on 17 May this year.

The effect of these deaths on the firm’s production for the rest of the year will be announced later.

The possible impact of any planned corrective action which will be a result of mine-wide safety assessment will also be announced as soon as possible, the firm said.